The Sporkful 2p2v40

Comedian Margaret Cho has struggled with eating disorders for most of her life. When she was starting out in comedy, she used alcohol and drugs to mask her hunger, and later resorted to other methods of controlling her weight. When we received a note from a teenage listener struggling with her own eating issues, we invited Margaret to share her story and advice with the listener and other young people who might be headed down the same path. Please note: This episode deals with eating disorders and includes discussion of child sexual abuse. This episode originally aired on January 11, 2016. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell.  Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.  

Should you eat fast food on vacation, or should every meal be at a special local place? Is soup bar food? Does ice belong in milk? Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings Dan to answer your questions — and to settle some long-standing food disputes of their own. Brittany and Eric co-host the podcast For Colored Nerds, a show about Black culture. They’re also old friends, which means they argue about everything -- from how Eric eats wings to the merits of soup. So they’re well-qualified to help when an eighth-grader calls in about a dispute in his class, and when two best friends differ in their approach to vacation eating. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Mandy Naglich is an award-winning home brewer who also writes and teaches about beer. Now she wants to become a Master Cicerone — basically the beer equivalent of a master sommelier. There are only 19 in the world, and just three are women. If Mandy wants to be number 20, she’ll need to a grueling two-day exam that includes identifying beers by taste and smell, pairing beers with food, and fixing a broken draft line. Dan selflessly offers himself up as Mandy’s beer-tasting study buddy, and we get a glimpse of the depth of her knowledge. But will it be enough for her to become a Master Cicerone? To sign up for one of Mandy Naglich's virtual beer workshops, go to BeersWithMandy.com. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

What foods do Sporkful listeners resolve to eat more of in the new year, and why? And what’s Dan’s New Year’s food resolution for 2022? All is revealed in our annual year-end spectacular. Plus we replay one of our favorite episodes of the year… It’s not for foodies, it’s for lovers! Earlier this year we put out the call for Sporkful listeners looking for love, and hundreds of you responded. We listen in on two blind Zoom dates that resulted from our extremely unscientific matchmaking. Is The Sporkful enough of a spark to ignite a grease fire of ion for two eaters? Or will these dates turn as cold as take-out fries? // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Sebastian Maniscalco is one of the top-grossing comedians in America, beloved for his stories about the food-obsessed family he grew up in, and his constant irritation at just about everyone around him. Now he’s parlayed his love of food into a new Food Network show, Well Done. Sebastian talks with Dan about what it’s like going from a working-class upbringing — during which he torched hams to earn a little extra cash — to selling out Madison Square Garden many times over. Plus, Sebastian shares his rules for being a good dinner party guest. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com

Professor Steven Alvarez believes you can read a taco. Look at the meat, the spices, and the tortilla. Each ingredient has a story that unlocks something about Mexican and American history and culture. This idea is the basis for Steve’s “Taco Literacy” course at St. John’s University in New York City. This week, we go on an end-of-semester taco crawl with Steve’s class, hitting up some of his favorite regional taquerías. Turns out, you can judge a taco by its tortilla. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

TikTok is the wild west of the food media world. It’s less professionalized than Instagram and YouTube, and it holds the promise of virality from the very first time you post. So we wondered: What actually makes a food TikTok go viral? To find out, we consult Bettina Makalintal, a food journalist and culture critic, and Professor Emily Contois, who studies food on Instagram. Then we get advice from a TikTok star: Joanne Lee Molinaro, aka The Korean Vegan. Armed with tips and tricks from the experts — and a pecan pie — can Dan reverse engineer his own viral TikTok? If you’re the type who likes to flip to the end of the book first, you can watch Dan’s TikTok right here. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

TikTok is the wild west of the food media world. It’s less professionalized than Instagram and YouTube, and it holds the promise of virality from the very first time you post. So we wondered: What actually makes a food TikTok go viral? To find out, we consult Bettina Makalintal, a food journalist and culture critic, and Professor Emily Contois, who studies food on Instagram. Then we get advice from a TikTok star: Joanne Lee Molinaro, aka The Korean Vegan. Armed with tips and tricks from the experts — and a pecan pie — can Dan reverse engineer his own viral TikTok? If you’re the type who likes to flip to the end of the book first, you can watch Dan’s TikTok right here. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

The Library of Congress is the biggest library in the world. It has 500,000 food books alone. A  library with that many books has a lot of librarians, with expertise in just about every region, culture, and period of history you can think of. Since 1949, the library’s cooking club has drawn on that diversity of knowledge to bring together foods from all over the world. But by the 2000s, the club had lost steam and was nearly defunct. Could librarian LaVerne Page and database specialist Shirley Loo save the club? Dan travels to the club’s annual holiday luncheon to find out — and to share some of his favorite librarian jokes. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

The Library of Congress is the biggest library in the world. It has 500,000 food books alone. A library with that many books has a lot of librarians, with expertise in just about every region, culture, and period of history you can think of. Since 1949, the library’s cooking club has drawn on that diversity of knowledge to bring together foods from all over the world. But by the 2000s, the club had lost steam and was nearly defunct. Could librarian LaVerne Page and database specialist Shirley Loo save the club? Dan travels to the club’s annual holiday luncheon to find out — and to share some of his favorite librarian jokes. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

“So often when we talk about veganism, we don't imagine Black people,” says Bryant Terry, the James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, chef, and educator. But Bryant sees veganism as deeply rooted in Black communities and traditions. And, he points out, veganism is growing faster among Black Americans than among any other group. After publishing another popular vegan cookbook last year, Bryant just released a new book that he edited: Black Food, which includes recipes, playlists, art, poetry, and essays from more than 100 contributors. Bryant s Dan to talk about the many influences that guided him towards veganism, what it took to get the wider publishing community to take his work seriously, and why Black Food will be his last book. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

“So often when we talk about veganism, we don't imagine Black people,” says Bryant Terry, the James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, chef, and educator. But Bryant sees veganism as deeply rooted in Black communities and traditions. And, he points out, veganism is growing faster among Black Americans than among any other group. After publishing another popular vegan cookbook last year, Bryant just released a new book that he edited: Black Food, which includes recipes, playlists, art, poetry, and essays from more than 100 contributors. Bryant s Dan to talk about the many influences that guided him towards veganism, what it took to get the wider publishing community to take his work seriously, and why Black Food will be his last book. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at  www.sporkful.com .

We’re back with the latest on cascatelli, the new pasta shape that Dan invented. Now that the chaos around cascatelli’s launch has died down, Dan has to make some big decisions about what to do next — with help from his cousin Carrie and die maker Chris Maldari. Then while Sfoglini upgrades their factory and tries to get the pasta into stores and restaurants, Dan explores other opportunities. Can he land the kind of deal he’s hoping for? Plus: Dan puts his mom to work developing recipes for cascatelli. Order your Cascatelli today at Sfoglini.com! // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

We’re back with the latest on Cascatelli, the new pasta shape that Dan invented. Now that the chaos around Cascatelli’s launch has died down, Dan has to make some big decisions about what to do next — with help from his cousin Carrie and die maker Chris Maldari. Then while Sfoglini upgrades their factory and tries to get the pasta into stores and restaurants, Dan explores other opportunities. Can he land the kind of deal he’s hoping for? Plus: Dan puts his mom to work developing recipes for Cascatelli. Order your limited edition cascatelli gift box now at Sfoglini.com! And use The Fresh Market’s store locator to find cascatelli in a store near you. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at  www.sporkful.com .

Patti LaBelle is not just a music icon, she’s also a food icon. She’s written best-selling cookbooks, hosted a food TV show, and even cooked for Elton John, The Rolling Stones, and Prince. Back in July, she released the 20th anniversary edition of her first cookbook, LaBelle Cuisine. She talks with Dan about touring the segregated South in the ‘60s, the viral video that made her sweet potato pie a Walmart sensation, and the one recipe in her cookbook that’s perfect for women going through menopause. Plus food writer Adrian Miller s us to discuss why Patti’s sweet potato pie has particular significance in the Black community. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Patti LaBelle is not just a music icon, she’s also a food icon. She’s written best-selling cookbooks, hosted a food TV show, and even cooked for Elton John, The Rolling Stones, and Prince. Back in July, she released the 20th anniversary edition of her first cookbook, LaBelle Cuisine. She talks with Dan about touring the segregated South in the ‘60s, the viral video that made her sweet potato pie a Walmart sensation, and the one recipe in her cookbook that’s perfect for women going through menopause. Plus food writer Adrian Miller s us to discuss why Patti’s sweet potato pie has particular significance in the Black community. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Pati Jinich has always had to move between worlds — as a Jew growing up in Mexico, and as a Mexican immigrant to the US, where she first worked as a policy analyst. “It wasn’t until I switched to cooking,” she tells us this week, “that I was finally able to make sense of all the pieces of myself.” Since that transition she’s spent a decade documenting Mexico’s vast and varied food cultures in her cookbooks, and on her PBS show Pati’s Mexican Table, which is watched by more than 65 million people around the world. Her new docu-series, La Frontera, is more political, examining the US-Mexico border, and the people who navigate the two worlds between it. It’s also her most personal work yet. She talks with Dan about why this show is so important to her. Plus she peers into his fridge over Zoom, and tells us about a deep fried quesadilla in Jalisco that she’ll never forget. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Pati Jinich has always had to move between worlds — as a Jew growing up in Mexico, and as a Mexican immigrant to the US, where she first worked as a policy analyst. “It wasn’t until I switched to cooking,” she tells us this week, “that I was finally able to make sense of all the pieces of myself.” Since that transition she’s spent a decade documenting Mexico’s vast and varied food cultures in her cookbooks, and on her PBS show Pati’s Mexican Table, which is watched by more than 65 million people around the world. Her new docu-series, La Frontera, is more political, examining the US-Mexico border, and the people who navigate the two worlds between it. It’s also her most personal work yet. She talks with Dan about why this show is so important to her. Plus she peers into his fridge over Zoom, and tells us about a deep fried quesadilla in Jalisco that she’ll never forget. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

A few months back, we got an email that set us off on an adventure. It came from Sara Bir, an author and recipe developer who’s obsessed with pawpaws, the largest fruit native to North America. “Pawpaws are tricky in the kitchen,” Sara wrote. “You can't buy them in stores. Occasionally they cause people to vomit. But pawpaws are truly beguiling, reminiscent of tropical fruit like mangoes and bananas.” With the help of her connections in the pawpaw dark web, Sara had identified one of the few pawpaw patches in the New York area. Can Dan and Sara find a pawpaw in the wild? And why does the pawpaw — also known as the poor man’s banana and hillbilly mango — inspire such a cultish following? // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

A few months back, we got an email that set us off on an adventure. It came from Sara Bir, an author and recipe developer who’s obsessed with pawpaws, the largest fruit native to North America. “Pawpaws are tricky in the kitchen,” Sara wrote. “You can't buy them in stores. Occasionally they cause people to vomit. But pawpaws are truly beguiling, reminiscent of tropical fruit like mangoes and bananas.” With the help of her connections in the pawpaw dark web, Sara had identified one of the few pawpaw patches in the New York area. Can Dan and Sara find a pawpaw in the wild? And why does the pawpaw — also known as the poor man’s banana and hillbilly mango — inspire such a cultish following? // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher : www.Stitcher.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.